Fireplace Safety For Families With Small Children

Children and fireplaces can be a dangerous combination. These fireplace safety tips will help you keep your toddlers safe while you enjoy the warmth and comfort of a hearth fire.

Never Leave a Small Child Alone with a Burning Fire

Fireplaces are very attractive to small children, who enjoy watching the dancing flames and flickering light. This means that many children will attempt to come close to the fireplace, even when told not to. Therefore, no small child should be left alone with a fire burning in the fireplace, not even for a second. Keep your eye on your toddler at all times while a fire is burning, and if you must leave the room, bring your child with you.

Keep Your Child Away from the Ashes

Ashes in your fireplace can take up to 15 hours to cool, which means that there is heat buried in the bottom of your fireplace long after the last flames burned out. To prevent your child from inadvertently burning himself or herself after the fire has died, never let your child touch the ashes.

Keep Matches and Fireplace Tools out of Reach

You may have kept your lighter stick, matches and other fireplace tools within easy reach of the fireplace before your child was born, but now these tools are a safety hazard. Keep your tools up and out of reach of your child.

Keep Your Child Away from the Fire

Keeping your child away from the fire is actually much more difficult than it sounds. Many parents think that their children are safe from the fire as long as the glass in front of the fireplace is closed. Unfortunately, this is not really the case. The glass in front of the fireplace can become so hot that small hands pressed against it can actually melt to the glass. However, there are ways to keep your children safe.

Install a child-proof folding screen in front of the fireplace to keep your child away.

Keep your children out of the room where the fireplace is located using baby gates.

Use your fireplace when your child is out of the house, and stop using your fireplace while your child is at home.

Keeping your child away from the fireplace is absolutely critical to your child's safety. For more information about fireplace and child safety, contact a local fireplace supply store like B C Fireplace Service Inc to find out what products are available to keep your child safe.